


what is coming is better than what is gone

by MYuzuki



Series: paths we had not known we were meant to walk [3]
Category: Mega Man X8, Rockman X | Mega Man X
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Everybody Lives, Gen, How Do I Tag, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Injured Axl + worried dad Red, Injury, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Team as Family, X8 epilogue of sorts, but oh well, honestly this is not my best work, i really don't know what else to tag this as lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-04-18
Packaged: 2021-02-23 11:36:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23710876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MYuzuki/pseuds/MYuzuki
Summary: "What's wrong?" he asks again, and if there's a little more of an angry bite to it, well, he thinks it can be forgiven considering the tense atmosphere in the room.Signas takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. "It's Axl," he says at last, expression grave. "He's been injured on a mission."[or: an X8 epilogue if Red had survived the events of X7]
Relationships: Axl & Red (Rockman), Axl & X (Rockman), Axl & Zero (Rockman)
Series: paths we had not known we were meant to walk [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1707670
Comments: 3
Kudos: 43





	what is coming is better than what is gone

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to another ficlet in my Red-lives AU! Since what I originally imagined as a one-shot is rapidly spiralling out of control into a variety of what-if ficlets, I'm going to put these together in a little series (titled "paths we had not known we were meant to walk").
> 
> Anyway! This one (if you consider them as all being in the same AU) takes place after The Truth of Who We Are (which in turn takes place after Lethobenthos). In terms of the game timeline/events, it takes place immediately after X8.
> 
> Enjoy!

**what is coming is better than what is gone**

Red is preoccupied with repairing an assortment broken laser rifles for one of the Hunter squads when Signas comes to find him, wearing an expression that's extremely severe even for him.

"That's a long face," Red comments absently, fiddling with the charred trigger mechanism on one of the rifles, vaguely frustrated at how long it's taking to fix.

(Axl is by far and away better with firearms maintenance than he is, but then again Axl is cleared to run missions for the Hunters whereas Red still occupies that nebulous zone of not-quite-enemy-but-not-quite-ally that he's been in ever since he turned his back on Sigma; subsequently, he's turned to fixing weaponry for the Hunters since they don't trust him to watch their backs in battle.

It's frustrating sometimes, to be kept out of the action after a lifetime of combat experience, but given that the alternatives he'd had at the time had been unspeakably bleak…suffice it to say, there were worse possible outcomes compared to this. At least this way he's alive, and can see Axl grow into greatness the way he's always wanted.)

"What's wrong?" he asks Signas now, glancing up from his work when the other Reploid doesn't immediately answer.

Signas opens his mouth as if to speak and then hesitates, looking troubled, which is Red's first real warning sign that something very much isn't right.

Because Signas isn't the type of Reploid who hesitates; granted, Red hasn't known him long, but what he's seen so far makes it pretty clear that uncertainty isn't an emotion that Signas feels on a regular basis. Bemusement on occasion, perhaps, but not this hesitant wariness that sets Red's teeth on edge.

"What's wrong?" he asks again, and if there's a little more of an angry bite to it, well, he thinks it can be forgiven considering the tense atmosphere in the room.

Signas takes a deep breath and exhales slowly. "It's Axl," he says at last, expression grave. "He's been injured on a mission."

"He's been injured on missions before," Red points out, trying to ignore the knot of worry and anxiety that's tangling in his chest. "What's so different about this time?"

"This time…" Signas heaves a sigh, looking more worn than Red can ever remember seeing him. "It's not looking good," he admits. "He took some serious damage. X and Zero are bringing him in now," he goes on, not commenting on the death grip Red has on the rifle in his hands. "X thinks he should be fine with some rest and repair work, but the preliminary damage report from the medic on their transport is…not optimistic."

Red's been a soldier long enough to know what 'not optimistic' means in regards to injuries sustained on the battlefield and has to take a moment to just _breathe_ as a wave of intermingled fear and fury washes over him, almost drowning him. "How long until they make it back to headquarters?" he asks, because how quickly they get Axl in for treatment the better his odds of surviving whatever critical damage he's sustained.

"Not long now," Signas assures him. "And we have a medical team standing by, ready to help as soon as the transport arrives. Axl's a tough kid," he adds after a moment, apparently taking a stab at reassurance although he's clearly still worried himself. "I'm sure he'll pull through."

Red snorts, amused despite himself. "The toughest," he agrees, thinking of the scars that Axl already bears, mementos of a life he can't even remember. For him to have survived the violence that those scars imply…well, it says good things about Axl's durability in general. Plus the kid's stubborn as hell (a trait exacerbated by the years he spent with Red Alert, because Red's pretty stubborn himself and he's pretty sure some of that rubbed off on his protege) and isn't likely to just quit on life without putting up a fight, no matter how much damage he's taken. But even so…"I want to see him," he says, standing up abruptly and carelessly throwing aside the rifle he'd been so focused on repairing just moments before.

"Of course," Signas says immediately, as if it was never in question.

Red would find the easy acceptance of his request darkly amusing under normal circumstances, given how tight a guard they've kept on him all this time and how they've put strict limitations on his access to various parts of their base, but at the moment he's too worried about Axl to care all that much. "Thank you," he says instead, and means it because Axl is the closest thing he has to a son and he can't shake the feeling that he needs to _see_ him, needs to be there at his side when they bring him in.

And then he needs to have some very strong words with those idiot Maverick Hunters who'd let him get so severely injured.

* * *

The first thing Red does, once the medical team has stabilized Axl and gotten him settled in to a stasis pod so that his auto-repair systems can do their thing, is punch X in the face.

This, of course, sets the medical team into a bit of a tizzy and they flutter and flail around, shouting reprimands at Red and fawning over their beloved Maverick Hunter before the Reploid in question finally extricates himself from them with repeated assurances that yes, he's fine, and no, he doesn't need any medical attention, thank you.

Red, of course, can't do much more than watch the hubbub with a mixture of amusement and irritation, because Zero's had an energy sword leveled at his throat since he'd first sent X flying across the room. And since Red's fairly attached to having his head where it belongs, he hasn't tried to move.

Not that he'd leave the room even if he could; this is where he should be, where he _needs_ to be.

He's not going to leave this room until Axl opens his eyes; he'll wait as long as it takes to know that his kid is going to be alright.

And in the meantime, he can give X and Zero a piece of his mind.

X finishes ushering the medical team back to their duties and approaches, an expression of wariness clear on his face. "Can I ask what that was for?"

Red's sorely tempted to punch him again. "What do you _think_ it was for," he demands, gesturing to Axl's unconscious form, still and quiet in a way that's deeply unsettling given how lively the younger Reploid is when he's awake. "What the hell happened out there?"

Zero eyes him consideringly for a moment, gaze sharp, then sheaths his sword. "We eliminated the enemy, but Axl was injured," he says curtly.

Red considers punching him, too. "I can see _that_ ," he snaps. "But what _happened_? You're supposed to be a team, aren't you? Supposed to protect each other, watch each others' backs? So why is it that you two are standing here and Axl is the one laid out?"

_Why weren't you looking out for him_ , he doesn't say, but he can tell from the looks on their faces that they hear it regardless.

"We thought it was over," X admits after a moment of tense silence. "We won the fight. Axl was just going over to check the body, but then…"

"But then what?" Red prompts when X trails off with a troubled expression, presumably running through the course of events in his mind's eye.

"Something… _came out_ of the body," Zero says, picking up where X had left off. "It struck fast, before we had time to react. It came straight for Axl," he adds, mouth turning down into a fierce frown that would almost be intimidating if Red couldn't see the worry in his eyes. "We intervened as soon as we could, but…"

"But not soon enough," X finishes, weary and guilty in equal measure as he meets Red's gaze. "For what it's worth, I really do believe that he'll be fine."

"I'm sure of it, too," Red says gruffly, because he refuses to accept any other outcome, not after _everything_. "But that's not the _point_."

"Look," Zero says now, wandering over to lean against the wall across from Axl's stasis tank, "we're worried, too, but Axl knows the risks of being a Maverick Hunter. We _all_ know that when we go out on a mission there's a chance we might not make it back at the end of the day."

"That is _also_ not the point," Red growls. "I'm a battle Reploid, too, in case you've forgotten and I'm well aware of how dangerous it is to hunt Mavericks. Red Alert did it frequently while _you_ ," he looks pointedly at X, "were enjoying your temporary retirement."

"What _is_ your point, then?" X asks tiredly, rubbing a hand down his face.

"My point is that you three idiots are _supposed_ to be a team."

Zero bristles, looking offended. "We _are_ a team."

"Zero's right," X says, gaze unwavering and voice firm. "I know it doesn't seem like it right now, because Axl is injured, but the three of us _are_ an extremely effective team. What happened to Axl today could just as easily happened to me or Zero." He takes a deep breath before continuing. "I consider Axl a valuable member of this organization _and_ my friend, and I promise you that his injury didn't happen because we weren't looking out for him."

"if there was any way we could have acted in time to protect him from that last attack," Zero adds in a low voice, gaze drifting back to where Axl lies unaware across from him, "we would have."

Red remains silent, mulling it all over in his head. He thinks of Axl during his time with Red Alert, technically part of a group but more often than not running missions alone due to how well-suited he was for it on account of his skills as an infiltrator. He thinks of how Axl has always struggled to figure out his place in the world, of how he always tried to find where he fits in.

He thinks of how _happy_ Axl seems lately, working with the Maverick Hunters. Because Axl is almost always smiling no matter what is going on, but he seems to _mean_ it more lately. And he thinks of how proud Axl is of the work he's doing, of how excited he gets whenever he gets to run missions with X and Zero.

He thinks of how Axl regards those two legendary Hunters so highly, thinks of how he _trusts_ them.

And he thinks about how they trust Axl.

"I believe you," Red says at last to them, and then strides across the room to pull up a chair near Axl's stasis pod.

(All three of them wait there, in that room, for Axl to wake up. The silence that settles between them is agonizingly awkward but not uncomfortable enough for any of them to actually leave; Red suspects that a tactical warhead to the building wouldn't be enough to make any of them leave.

Axl regains consciousness three days later, once his auto-repair protocol has run its course and dealt with the damage he'd sustained fighting Lumine. And when the medical team gives Axl a clean bill of health (albeit with orders to avoid combat missions for at least a week to ensure no setbacks), Red thinks it's the most relieved he's ever felt in his life.

He doesn't say that, though. Instead, he drags Axl down to his workshop and shoves a box of damaged laser rifles at him. "In exchange for scaring me out of ten years of my life that I can't afford to lose," he tells Axl, "you get to help me fix these."

Axl gives a low laugh, eyes warm as he gives Red a crooked smile. "Yeah, okay," he says, obviously picking up on what Red really means. "That seems fair.")


End file.
